HOME & LIVING B1
LOCAL A2
SPORTS A6
Cornbread: Fresh take on an
old-fashioned favorite
Animal rights initiative
won’t make Nov. ballot
Gonzaga rallies past
Memphis to make Sweet 16
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • HOME & LIVING • SPORTS
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
COVID rate
hits lowest
since June
of 2020
QUICK HITS
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Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Kareen
Bybee of Baker City.
BRIEFING
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Baker baseball loses
fi rst game in Arizona
The Baker baseball team
rallied from a 10-0 defi cit
but couldn’t come all the
way back against Doherty,
Colorado, on Monday,
March 21, at Phoenix,
Arizona. The Bulldogs lost
11-5 in the fi rst of their four
games scheduled during a
spring break trip to Arizona.
Baker, which lost for the
fi rst time after opening the
season with three wins
last week, played Manitou
Springs, Colorado, later
Monday. Baker is slated to
play Buena Vista, Colora-
do, on Wednesday, March
23, and Apollo, Arizona,
on Thursday, March 24.
See Thursday’s issue of
the Baker City Herald for
more coverage.
Baker Relief Nursery
plans open house on
March 30
The Baker Relief Nursery,
1925 16th St., will be
celebrating its fi rst year of
operation during an open
house on Wednesday, March
30, from noon to 1 p.m. and
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The public is invited to
tour the facility and visit with
the team. Staff will also be
sharing their fi rst Annual
Impact Report.
For more information call
541-523-5054 or email at
info@bakerreliefnursery.org.
WEATHER
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Today
57/34
Partly sunny
Wednesday
63/37
Partly sunny
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 • $1.50
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
The Baker City trolley route begins and ends at Community Connection, 2810 Cedar St.
Pump prices
might make
the Trolley I
attractive
Baker’s Community
Connection trolley
runs a fixed route
on weekdays
BY LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
f gas prices make you cringe, it
might be time to let someone else
do the driving.
The Baker City trolley, operated by
Community Connection of Northeast
Oregon, runs a fixed route around
town from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday
through Friday.
See, Trolley/Page A3
Agencies brace for effects
of record fuel prices
much diesel as usual this winter
since most of the snowfall was con-
fined to about two weeks in late
With fleets of vehicles for which December and early January.
the concept of fuel economy is
“Fortunately, we had kind of a
more farcical than reality, officials
light winter and in winter we (can)
at the Baker County Road Depart- burn a ton of diesel plowing snow
ment and Baker City Public Works every single day,” Perkins said.
Department are keenly aware of the
The road department’s budget for
record-high fuel prices.
the current fiscal year, which ends
Noodle Perkins, Baker County
June 30, includes $230,000 for fuel.
roadmaster, said the recent price
A longer term concern, Perkins
hikes are a significant concern,
said, is the state gas tax, which is
particularly for diesel, the fuel that a major source of revenue for the
heavy equipment such as graders
road department overall and is not
and backhoes burn at a prodigious limited to paying for fuel.
rate.
The county will receive about
“It’s major for us,” Perkins said.
$1.6 million from the state this fis-
On the positive side, Perkins said cal year.
the road department didn’t use as
The problem, Perkins said, is
By SAMANTHA O’CONNER
and JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
that as fuel prices rise, people tend
to drive less, and since the fuel tax
hasn’t increased (the price hikes are
due to market issues, not to higher
taxes), tax revenue could drop.
“It’s nailing us pretty good,” Per-
kins said.
The road department did have
a beginning balance of about $3.5
million for this fiscal year.
For Baker City, the comparatively
small amount of snowplowing this
winter means the fuel budget for
the current fiscal year, ending June
30, should be fine, said Michelle
Owen, public works director.
But based on current fuel prices,
she said she’s proposing a 30% in-
crease in the budget for fuel for the
fiscal year that starts July 1.
The difference between the two words
is minor, but after two years it’s some-
thing of a milestone for Mark Bennett to
refer to an endemic rather than a pan-
demic.
Bennett, a Baker County commis-
sioner, has also served as the county’s
incident commander since March 2020,
when COVID-19 caused a worldwide
upheaval like no other infectious disease
had in a century.
With the county’s number of cases,
and its rate of positive tests, plummeting
to the lowest levels since the spring of
2020, Bennett said the county is return-
ing to a more normal situation.
Employees from departments who
had devoted some of their time to
COVID-19 topics are no longer doing
so, Bennett said on Monday, March 21.
Although Bennett acknowledged that
a new variant could change conditions,
at this point he believes those measures
are no longer necessary.
See, COVID/Page A3
County gets
$280,000 to
upgrade radio
system for
police, fire
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
The mountains and canyons that add
beauty and variety to Baker County’s
landscape also pose obstacles for the
people who respond to emergencies
ranging from missing hunters to car
crashes to wildfires.
The county’s rumpled topography cre-
ates “dead spots” where the radio signals
that link emergency responders can’t al-
ways reach, Sheriff Travis Ash said.
But a recent influx of federal and
state government dollars will help to
strengthen that electronic connection.
Baker County has received $280,000
in three separate grants to install new ra-
dio repeaters on 10 mountaintop sites,
and to replace the outdated radio con-
soles at the Baker County Consolidated
Dispatch Center at the Sheriff’s Office,
Ash said.
See, Upgrades/Page A3
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
Baker City business curates one-of-a-kind
tourism opportunities in Eastern Oregon
As the warm season ap-
proaches, Sizer and his crew
A local business is shining are gearing up for a slate of
a light on the natural gems
adventures in Eastern Ore-
of Eastern Oregon.
gon this summer.
Go Wild: American Ad-
Sizer, who went to Baker
ventures, a tourism business High School and graduated
based in Baker City, focuses from Lewis & Clark College
on local tourism, environ-
in Portland, began the busi-
mental education, commu- ness after working for the
nity partnerships and inter- Forest Service for six sea-
national outreach. Through sons. The inspiration for Go
custom-curated outdoors
Wild: American Adventures
adventures, owner Dan Sizer started in Sizer’s college
aims to share his love of the days, when he took a group
outdoors with others.
of international students
“From the beginning, the back home to Eastern Or-
rural Oregon part was some- egon. Sizer and his friends
thing I really wanted to help went backpacking, hiking,
people connect to,” Sizer
canoeing and participated
said.
in other outdoor activities
The business is in its
that the group had never
fifth year, but has faced
done before.
several hurdles related to
It was at this point that Sizer
the COVID-19 pandemic.
saw a potential business op-
BY DAVIS CARBAUGH
The (La Grande) Observer
Go Wild: American Adventures/Contributed Photo
Two Go Wild: American Adventures guests jump into an alpine
lake in the Wallowas during the summer of 2021. The business,
which is based in Baker City, creates curated outdoor experiences
in Eastern Oregon.
TODAY
Issue 131
14 pages
Classified ....................B4-B6
Comics ..............................B7
Community News.............A5
Crossword ...............B4 & B6
Dear Abby .........................B8
Home & Living ............B1-B3
Horoscope ..............B2 & B4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
Opinion .............................A4
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ...............................A6
portunity, inviting individuals
from out of the area to expe-
rience what Eastern Oregon
has to offer. The business now
provides guides, personal
chefs, gourmet outdoor meals,
lessons and more at destina-
tions across the region.
“It was always amazing for
me to see the awe and wonder,
realizing how many folks ha-
ven’t been out in this kind of
country,” Sizer said.
Go Wild’s main clientele
come from larger cities such
as Portland, Seattle or the
Tri-Cities in Washington. Sizer
noted that the business shifted
from focusing on day-trip
visitors coming through East-
ern Oregon toward interested
individuals from out of town
looking for an extended visit.
See, Tourism/Page A3
Sudoku..............................B7
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B8